Shika Nuclear Power Plant
| Shika Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Country | Japan |
| Coordinates | 37°03′40″N 136°43′35″E / 37.06111°N 136.72639°ECoordinates: 37°03′40″N 136°43′35″E / 37.06111°N 136.72639°E |
| Construction began | July 1, 1989 |
| Commission date | July 30, 1993 |
| Operator(s) | Hokuriku Electric Power Company |
| Reactor information | |
| Reactors operational | 1 x 540 MW 1 x 1358 MW |
| Power generation information | |
| Annual generation | 7,456 GW·h |
| Net generation | 54,864 GW·h |
| As of July 25, 2007 | |
The Shika Nuclear Power Plant (志賀原子力発電所 Shika genshiryoku hatsudensho, Shika NPP) is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Shika, Ishikawa, Japan. It is owned and operated by the Hokuriku Electric Power Company. It is on a site that is 1.6 km2 (395 acres).[1]
Contents |
[edit] Reactors on Site
| Unit | Type | Commission date | Electric Power | Thermal Power | Maker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shika - 1 | BWR | July 30, 1993 | 540 MW | 1,593 MW | Hitachi |
| Shika - 2 | ABWR | March 15, 2006 | 1,358 MW | 3,926 MW | Hitachi |
[edit] 1999 Criticality Event
On June 18, 1999 during an inspection, an emergency control rod insertion was to be performed on Unit 1. One rod was to be inserted into the reactor, however, due to improper following of the procedure, instead of one rod inserting, 3 rods withdrew. For the next 15 minutes, the reactor was in a dangerous criticality state. This event was not revealed until March 15, 2007, since it was covered up in the records. The unit has been shut down since that date.
Immediately after the event was revealed, the president of the Hokuriku Electric Power Company was called to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry office and ordered to shut down the unit 1 reactor. Note that this was not the same president as when the event happened in 1999.
On June 5, 2007 the committee chairman of the Japan Nuclear Safety Commission inspected the control rod housing and drive mechanisms and evaluated that the event was due to cutting corners. He also concluded that the reactor operators at the time were under a lot of pressures from above, and simply punishing the operators would not be an effective deterrent for future accidents. One proposed measure was to have alarms automatically record when they go off so that records can not be altered.
A lower court had ordered the entire plant to be shut down, but that decision was later overturned by Nagoya's high court. The utility put in a request to the Ishikawa prefectural government and the town of Shika for the restart of unit 1.[2] The unit returned to power on May 11, 2009 and resumed commercial operation on May 13.[3]
[edit] Construction of an Anti-Tsunami-wall
On Wednesday 5 October 2011 a start was made with the construction of a reinforced concrete wall, that should shield the reactors against a possible tsunami. The wall was designed 4 meters high and 700 meters long, 11 meters above sea level. This was done to comply with extra governmental instructions ordered after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Next to this a new drainage gate was to be installed to minimize damage to plant facilities in case seawater would be able to climb over the wall and would submerge the plant. Other emergency safety measures included the installing of an extra pump to cool the reactors with seawater and an extra power source to operate a valve for venting steam out of reactors. Construction should be completed by the end of March 2013. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ Hokuriku Power. Shika NPP information sheet.
- ^ Reuters. Japan's Hokuriku seeks local OK for nuclear restart. March 18, 2009.
- ^ NucNet. Japan’s Shika-1 Returns To Service. May 22, 2009.
- ^ JATF (5 October 2011)Earthquake-report 226: Construction of seawall begins at nuclear plant
[edit] External links
- Ishikawa Prefecture Nuclear Emergency Plans 石川県原子力安全対策室
- Environment radiation monitoring 環境放射線モニタリング
- Hokuriku Electric Company 北陸電力
- Noto Hanto earthquake (Japan)
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